No Prince Charming
by justanoutlaw
Summary: What if David woke up before everyone else?
1. Chapter 1

_Prompted to me by loboselinaistrash. An AU of season 1, where David does the right thing and leaves Kathryn._

David quietly pushed the door open and entered his apartment, kicking off his shoes. He knew Abigail…no, Kathryn, would be asleep and he had to keep it that way. He had spent the entire night hanging out with his wife and daughter.

Not that they knew that's what they were.

He had woken up the night that he touched the unicorn mobile hanging in Gold's shop. It wasn't long before he realized that Rumpelstiltskin was also awake. David was ready to swarm Regina's mansion and make her pay for all she had done to their family. Rumple warned him that it would be a mistake, that Regina couldn't know he was awake. He assured him that Emma would break the curse in due time, but in the meantime, he had to keep up the charade.

He had to pretend to be David Nolan, husband of Kathryn Nolan, rather than David Charming, true love of Snow White. It was killing him. Every moment he had to be away from his girls was a dagger in his heart. But he knew that if Regina knew he was awake, she'd hurt them. It left him with no choice.

However, even if David had to be forced in a loveless "marriage", it didn't mean that he'd be out of his girls' lives all together. He was still friends with "Mary Margaret" and Emma, spending many nights at the loft. They got dinner together, saw movies, they were almost like a family. It was an unspoken rule to not speak of his home life, they knew he was unhappy. What they didn't understand was why he just didn't leave.

The lights turned on and he spun around, finding Kathryn standing there in robe, arms folded over her chest.

"It's after midnight," she said.

"I told you I'd probably have to work late…"

"I called the shelter, you weren't there." She gnawed on her lower lip. "You were with them, weren't you?"

"Kathryn…"

"Tell me the truth."

David sighed. "I went to see a late movie and grab some dinner with Mary Margaret and Emma."

"Are you sleeping with one of them?"

"No!"

"But you're not with me either."

"Kathryn…"

"You love Mary Margaret, don't you?" She interrupted. "I never stood a chance, did I?"

He stepped closer to her. "I know it seems cruel, I know you don't understand. Just think about it Kathryn, how much of your life do you remember?"

"What does this have to do with anything?"

"I know you remember the life we had before I went missing, but think harder than that. Your childhood, your life before me. What do you remember?"

Kathryn's mouth opened, then shut again. "I guess not much."

"Look, you just have to trust me, we're not meant to be together. I was separated from Mary Margaret and you were separated from your true love."

Kathryn tilted her head. "You sound like Henry right now. Are you honestly telling me that you believe him?"

"I'm just saying…I know this is hurting you now, but in time…all this pain…it'll be gone. You'll have what you deserve."

"Don't tell yourself that just to make yourself feel better," she said, bitterly. "You're walking out on me, on our life together! That's not noble, you're no prince charming!"

She blinked a couple of times and it broke David's heart. The two had been friends after the whole fake engagement. They had plans to be in one another's lives for years to come. Now here he was, breaking her heart. How badly he wished he could wake her up, so she could see it was all for the best.

Kathryn was right, he wasn't a prince charming in this world. He was just an ordinary guy, one who was seemingly being the biggest asshole in the world. He was leaving his wife for another woman.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I never wanted to hurt you."

"Right. Sure. Just get the hell out."

David nodded, turning on his heel and heading for the door. He just hoped that Emma would break the curse soon. He was tired of hurting the people he loved.


	2. Chapter 2

_Prompted to me by loboselinaistrash: Pretty please can I have a follow up to 'No Prince Charming', with 36. "Tell me I'm wrong." and Daddy Charming with Emma starting to believe in the curse? 3_

David lingered at the top of the steps, watching Emma pack her bag. Mary Margaret had told him that she planned on leaving and he knew he had to find a way to stop her. She had to break the curse, so they could officially be a family. It had killed him to pretend to just be her friends over the past few months. This was his daughter, his little girl. He had to give her up once and his heart couldn't bare to do it twice.

"Emma." She looked up and gave him a small smile. "Mary Margaret told me what you were doing."

"It's for the best," Emma said with a sigh. "What's going on between me and Regina, it's not fair, to anyone. We've been bringing out the worst in each other. You know I almost kidnapped Henry last night. This isn't good for him, either. I came into town and I disrupted his life."

"You made it better, you made all our lives better. You can't just leave."

"I made a deal with Regina. I leave, I let them go on with their lives and I'll get to see him sometimes. That means I'll get to come back here, see you and Mary Margaret."

Deep down, something told David that it wasn't going to work out like that. There was no way that Regina was just going to let Emma stay in Henry's life, not after all she had done to get her out of it. She had already cursed the town line so that if any of the other residents left, they'd forget who they really were. She'd make sure that Emma never got back into Storybrooke again.

"You can't leave," he repeated. "Please, you have to stay."

"David…"

"Emma, Henry's book is real!"

Her eyes widened and she took a step away from him. "Stop it."

"Please, just hear me out…"

"No! I can't believe you're letting this go to your head. You can't do this, when I leave, you can't let this stay in his head."

"I can, because it's real." David partially smiled. "We come from a different land, all of us. I am David Charming. Your roommate, she's not Mary Margaret Blanchard, she's my wife. She's Snow White. And you…you're our daughter."

"No, this is crazy." Emma shook her head. "You're crazy! You can't…you can't just start saying all of this stuff."

David noticed the tears gathering in her eyes. "Em…"

"Don't you think I wish this all was real?" Her voice cracked. "Don't you think I wish that you and Mary Margaret were my parents? That I had people who cared about me my entire life? But the truth is, it's not real. Fairytales don't exist. Reality is, I'm an orphan and you're not prince charming. We're just real people!"

He could tell by her tone that she was trying to talk herself into believing what she said. It was almost as if him telling her, on top of Henry and August, was enough to get through to her. A single tear trickled down her cheek and it took all he had not to wrap her up in his arms. All those times when she was growing up, crying and scared, wanting her parents so badly, he couldn't be there. Now, there they were. Father and daughter, reunited.

Except one of them was fighting the truth.

"Take it back!" Emma exclaimed. "Just take it back!"

"You know I can't do that."

"Tell me I'm wrong," her voice cracked. "Tell me that I'm wrong for actually believing you right now."

David stepped closer to her. "You're not wrong."

He kissed her forehead and her eyes widened. She seemed in a whole other place for a moment before snapping of it and pulling down his shirt a bit. There was a scar where he had been stabbed by the knight while he was bringing her to the wardrobe.

"Oh my God," she whispered. "It's true. All of it."

"I know you must have a lot of questions…"

Before he could finish his sentence, they heard a sudden thud. They raced down the stairs and found Henry passed out on the floor. In his hand, the apple turnover that Regina had given Emma before she left her house. A scream escape Emma's lips as she rushed to his side while David frantically dialed 9-1-1-.

"Oh Henry," Emma choked out. "I am so sorry I didn't believe you."


	3. Chapter 3

_Prompted by loboselinaistrash: "when was the last time you ate?" Can I have some Daddy Charming s1/2 David learning that Emma really sucks at taking care of herself?_

Emma sat by Henry's bed, her eyes focused solely on him. Regina had gone to make a call and Emma was thankful for that. She knew that Emma and David were awake, but none of that mattered anymore. Her son, their son, was hurt. It was an accident, but the turnover had been meant for Emma. She wanted to put her to sleep, despite the fact that she had said she'd leave town. Now, they were both forced to stand vigil, hoping for the best for their son.

"Hey." Emma looked up and found David standing there. She still couldn't believe that he was her father. She could barely wrap her mind around fairytales being real, but that seemed secondary to finally finding her parents. He held up a bag. "I brought Granny's."

Emma shook her head, looking back at her son. "I'm not hungry."

"With everything that's been going on the past few days, when's the last time you ate?"

"I don't remember, it's fine, really. I think I've trained my body to survive on less."

She cringed for a moment, realizing what she just admitted. She was so used to letting those comments slip with Mary Margaret under the curse, she hadn't even thought about it. She glanced back up and could see the mixture of concern and horror in his eyes. Emma let out a tiny sigh.

"Sorry, I…I shouldn't have said that."

David slid into the seat next to her, examining her closely. He had known all that time that he had a 28-year-old daughter in front of him. She was grown, she didn't need him in the same ways he had pictured. Yet, he hadn't realized just what all those years had done to her. Emma had been raised an orphan, with no one there for her.

He had spent so much time worrying about how to be a father, he had grown up without one after the age of 5. Yet, he thought he had a pretty good grip on how to raise a child.

He was still trying to figure out how to be a father to an adult. They said parenting never came with a handbook, but never more did he wish that there was one there for him.

"I can't imagine what your life was life," David finally said, after a bit. "I didn't exactly grow up in the best environment, but I won't pretend it was anything like yours. I had a mother, but we were pretty poor." That got Emma's attention. "I wasn't always a prince, you know. I grew up a shepherd, I was sort of forced into the title."

"How?"

"That's another story for another day, one when my grandson isn't in a coma. The point is…I do get that part to an extent."

She slowly nodded. "I don't think I can eat until I know he's going to be okay."

"He will be, he's a Charming. We're fighters."

Emma felt the tears gather in her eyes. "Some fighter I am. I couldn't even save this town."

"You'll find a way, you're…"

"The savior?"

"Not just that. You're the daughter of Snow White. She is the strongest woman I know. I've seen you, Em. You inherited many things from her and you're also your own hero. I believe in you and so does Henry." He put a hand on top of hers. "There is one thing that can break any curse."

"And that is?"

"True love's kiss. It worked when I kissed you."

"You've kissed Mary Margaret a bunch of times and it hasn't worked."

"Gold told me that was because you're the savior. You can break the curse for each of us, we can't on our own."

Emma chewed on her lip. "I've never loved very well."

"But do you love Henry?"

"With everything in me."

"Then it's worth a shot."

Slowly, Emma rose to her feet and walked closer to the bed. She cupped her son's cheek, the tears falling down her face.

"I love you, Henry," she whispered.

She leaned down, kissing his forehead. A rainbow forcefield, similar to the one that had came when David kissed her, came over the room. His eyes flickered open and he softly smiled up at her.

"I love you too," he said.

A relieved noise left Emma's throat and she gathered her son into her arms. She looked over at David, who was smiling.

"Come on," he said. "Let's go get your mother."


End file.
